no sadness without a story

Whenever you mentally oppose what is,

you’re going to experience sadness and apparent separation.

There’s no sadness without a story.

~ Byron Katie

I was sitting in the sunshine today. Feeling blissed out with the warmth of it on my face. Knowing that all is well, if I allow it to be that way.

I was thinking to myself: right now, I can steer which way my thoughts and emotions will go. I understood that if I tilted that wheel to the right, I'd plunge off the cliff, into deep despair and sadness, fully committed to my story. That I'm alone, missing my kids, missing my love. I can start to spin stories about why things shouldn't be the way they are, and by doing so, keep that free-fall into sadness going full speed ahead.

Instead, I slammed on the brakes and kept those wheels pointing forward.

I told myself that I could simply accept the way it is right now in this moment. It just is what it is. I don't have to feel sad about it. I don't have to NOT feel sad, either. I can feel what I feel, notice it, acknowledge and accept it, look it in the eye -- then move on. It doesn't have to define my day. It's a feeling.

Feelings come and go if I pay attention. Knowing that these sad, lonely feelings won't be with me all day (if I allow them to come and go instead of trapping them in the sticky web of story) allows me to breathe and relax into it all.

All of the feelings. They come to speak to me, to show me more, to be felt. I can do that.